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Continuing its active work on attracting more cruise ships and, respectively, more cruise passengers to Riga, the Freeport of Riga Authority has become a member of CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association), the world’s largest cruise industry association. Membership in this organisation will open a path for closer cooperation between the Freeport of Riga Authority and the world’s largest cruise line operators, thus facilitating the development of the cruise sector in the Port of Riga.

To plan the further development of territories of the Freeport of Riga and improve offers for potential investors, the Freeport of Riga Authority commenced an extensive geotechnical investigation of free port territories in the meadows around Spilve. It is planned that the perspective territory of the Spilve meadows might be developed as a place for logistics and industrial companies to operate. The development of port territories on the left bank of the Daugava River will be also included in the Freeport of Riga Development Plan for 2019–2028, a functional document which will outline the development of the Port of Riga from the point of cargo, functions and territories.

Last week – from 30 May to 1 June – employees of the Internal Security Service of the Freeport of Riga Authority and officials of the Port Police of the Freeport of Riga Authority took part in a regional Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) workshop organised jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia and the USA. The aim of the workshop was to discuss current global threats and promote regional cooperation in combating and control of illicit movement of weapons of mass destruction, WMD delivery systems and related raw materials.

Increasingly large ships are used in the segment of cargo shipments by sea. The cargo owners wish to reduce their costs and carry out shipments using ships with a greater deadweight capacity is also felt by the Port of Riga. In 2017 the port handled almost 3 times more cargo than in 1997, while the total number of incoming merchant ships dropped from 4,029 in 1997 to 3,422 in 2017. “The trend is clear: the number of ships coming to the port is decreasing, but their capacity increases,” A. Brokovskis, Captain of the Freeport of Riga, commented on the data. Challenges faced by the Port of Riga in handling these giants increase along with the size of ships.

Companies representing the Latvian transport and logistics sector spent the past week in Shanghai, China, host city of one of the largest exhibitions in Asia — Transport Logistic China. Negotiations were held with a wide range of representatives of the largest European and Asian logistics companies.

Last week, on 17–19 April, the Freeport of Riga Authority along with several port companies visited the International Exhibition for Transport and Logistics Services and Technologies TransRussia 2018 in Moscow. This annual exhibition is the largest event in the transport and logistics sector in Russia, as well as one of the largest forums of the industry in Eurasia. This year more than 350 companies gathered from 29 countries, with the number of visitors exceeding 15 thousand. “This was an opportunity for the Freeport of Riga Authority and port companies to strengthen their current cooperation and establish new contacts with the largest players of the logistics sector in the region”, Ansis Zeltiņš, CEO of the Freeport of Riga, is convinced.

Last week the MSC Orchestra, one of the largest cruise ships to enter the Port of Riga this year, moored for the first time at the pier of the passenger terminal. The ship brought over 2,550 cruise passengers to Riga.

Comprehensive cargo containerisation is a growing trend in cargo shipments across the world. Currently, sea containers are used to transport not only consumer goods, but also the most diverse piece goods — metals, timber, cars and even goods which traditionally have been transported as bulk cargo, i.e., grain, metal ores, etc. Companies operating in the Port of Riga are also following the containerisation trend by developing and improving cargo processing and handling technologies.

Last week a delegation of entrepreneurs from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), headed by Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, visited Latvia. During the visit, UAE entrepreneurs admitted that they were interested in expanding cooperation with Latvian companies in several sectors, including transport and logistics. This was also confirmed by the delegation’s visit to the Freeport of Riga and the company TFS Trans’s logistics centre.

Workshop “Port Dues and Other Incentives for Greener Cruise Ports” (WP4-E17) of the GREEN CRUISE PORT (GCP) project will take place in Latvia, Riga 25-26 April 2018 and will be hosted by the project partner from Latvia- the Freeport of Riga Authority.

The company operating in the Freeport of Riga, SIA Riga Bulk Terminal, in recent years has invested several tens of millions euro in the construction of a new, modern and multi-functional bulk cargo terminal in Kundziņsala. Following global trends in the transport and logistics sector, this multi-functional terminal, which is able to ensure the handling of various types of bulk cargo by both loading onto and unloading from ships, ensures the diversification of cargo and significantly improves the competitiveness of both the company and the entire Port of Riga in general. During the construction of the second stage of the terminal, an automated warehouse with the capacity of up to 35 thousand tons has been constructed; the unique engineering and technical solutions of this warehouse have been highly praised by professionals and awarded first place in the competition “Latvian Construction Industry’s Annual Award 2017”, nomination “Production Plant”.

What are the next steps in the development of transit and logistics in the age of various challenges? How will it be affected by global innovations and which technologies created in Latvia will facilitate this development? Answers to these and other crucial questions were sought at the international conference “Global Transport Security and Safety for a Century” organised by the OECD International Transport Forum and the Ministry of Transport last week, gathering approximately 160 participants from 59 countries.

Cruise tourism is one of the world’s most rapidly growing tourism segments. Currently, the opportunity to go on a cruise is used by approximately 23 million passengers every year, and forecasts suggest that this number will increase by one third by the end of the next decade. The Port of Riga also sets new cruise traffic records every season. Last year, the number of cruise passengers increased by 22.4% reaching 87.4K, which is an absolute record for the Port of Riga. Last year, Riga was a destination for 86 cruise ships; whereas, this year, the visits of more than 90 cruise ships have already been notified. Moreover, the size of cruise ships entering the Port of Riga has almost doubled over the last decade. While the average DWT of a cruise ship was 23.7K GT in 2008, this indicator reached already 42.8K GT in 2017.

Last week, a number of high-ranking officials from the Chinese capital of Beijing visited Riga, showing particular interest in the Port of Riga. A delegation headed by the Vice Mayor Mr. Zhang Gong of the Chinese capital visited the Freeport of Riga. It was an opportunity for the Freeport of Riga Authority to present the Port of Riga as an effective transit hub for the transportation of Chinese container cargoes and as a good place for Chinese investment.

The guests from China met with the CEO of the Freeport of Riga Mr. Ansis Zeltins (Ansis Zeltiņš), got acquainted with the performance indicators of the Freeport of Riga, its infrastructure, services and development projects. The representatives of the city of Beijing were informed of the potential investment and cooperation opportunities in the Port of Riga.